Kids discover critters

#MiddleburyCT #MiddleburyLandTrust #KidsHike

Emilia and Evelyn Hubbard are delighted by the giant worm discovered on the October 12 “kids’ hike.” The worm was only one of the wonders that included salamanders, frogs, a ribbon snake, turkeys and a profusion of beautiful leaves. (Sara Hubbard photo).

By JANINE SULLIVAN–WILEY

Saturday, October 12, this writer had the great privilege of leading a Middlebury Land Trust “kids hike” in the Juniper Hill/Sperry preserve. When leading a hike, one is prepared to show people features of interest and teach them how to find and follow trail signs. That did happen. The kids and their families did learn about what might be found in the woods and about using trail tags. But what also happened is how much I was treated to seeing the world through their eyes.

At the outset of the hike, each child was given a page of things to try to find and told that this was a team effort: find it and share it. I was surprised that we never did see any scats (animal feces); they might have been there but obscured by fallen leaves. We also didn’t notice any birds flying by or in the trees, but were happily surprised by a group of turkeys that ran across the trail ahead of us. We discovered that there is (thankfully) relatively little poison ivy along the trails we took. The kids also learned that some plants look a lot like poison ivy, like the American hog-peanut. (There is lots of that near the start of the trail.) But “leaves of three, let them be” is still a good rule.

The kids turned out to be great creature spotters, finding frogs and a small common ribbon snake (which according to the DEEP website is not as common as it once was). They were champs at looking under and around rocks and fallen wood and found two types of salamanders: two phases of the red-spotted newt (the darker adult and the juvenile form – the red eft), and two phases and sizes of the Eastern Redback Salamander: one tiny and black, the other larger and older.

That was the favorite part for Nathaniel, 6, who liked “finding salamanders because they are cute.” Callie, 11, found two of the most enormous earthworms I have ever seen – a good 8” long and as wide around as my little finger. She said, “I was looking behind a log, and I saw this giant pink thing. I thought it was a snake at first because it was so big. Then I saw that it was a worm.” All of us were amazed at the worms’ sizes, occasionally appalled by their cold, damp feel and the fact that one was quite adept at pooping on their hands. For Nathaniel, that was one of the most fun parts.

Identifying the salamanders and giant worms involved multiple organizations, and three individuals: Kathy Herz at the Wildlife Division of DEEP, Dr. Gale Ridge at the Connecticut Agricultural Station in New Haven, and Dr. Josef Görres of the University of Vermont. Herz was the salamander resource and provided leads for more experts. Dr. Ridge said there are “17 European earthworms resident in the United States. Some can get quite large. [Up to] 7-9 inches in the case of the Belgian Nightcrawlers.” Dr. Ridge said worms typically found here are not necessarily native to this area. Most of the earthworms in the Northeast came over with European settlers going back to the 1600s. The native worms were mostly wiped out by glaciers during the Ice Age. Dr. Görres, after looking at a photograph of the earthworm, identified it as a Metaphire hilgendorfi, the largest of the jumping worm species found in the Northeast.

The colorful leaves on the ground were a treat for all. Alle, 9, “liked looking at all the animals and digging through the leaves to find a certain type … a sassafras leaf … because when I finally found it, I was happy.” Another young child was intrigued by something I had never paid attention to – the leaves’ textures. I look at color and shape. She called my attention to textures by saying, “Look how bumpy the bottom of this one is!” “This one feels kind of slippery.” ”This one is soft.” The children reminded me the world is full of wonders to discover and to feel as well as see.

Contact this writer at jswspotlight@gmail.com. You can visit the Middlebury Land Trust on Facebook or the website at middleburylandtrust.org. Happy hiking and enjoy the wonders of nature!

This article was first published in the November 2024 issue of the Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer.